The resumption of milongas still feels a way off yet, but there are definite signs that the tango world is beginning to ready itself. Some group classes are resuming, albeit for solo technique or with fixed partners, and privates are resuming on the same basis.
But lessons are of limited value without practice, so Wai Fong and I did a practice session, trying out the things we’d been learning in our privates with David – managing to choose one of the hottest days of the year to do it …
When David asked what we wanted to focus on in tonight’s lesson with Wai Fong, I took a deep breath and asked him how realistic it would be to tackle a volcada.
My only previous experience of one was when it was just thrown in for fun at the end of a Tango Space improver class, but it had always struck me as a lovely-looking movement …
Continue reading An introduction to the world of off-axis dance
Monday saw our third lesson with David, again working on variations on things I already know.
The first of these was to lead a cross directly from the walk …
We’ve decided to make the lessons with David a weekly fixture during the tango famine, working on that same mix of technique, and variations on things I already know how to do.
We worked this week on the planeo …
I was shocked to look back in my blog and discover that it had been two months since my last virtual tango lesson, and a full 4.5 months since my last in-person one. Lockdown time flies by simply because there are so few events in our lives by which to measure time.
A friend has been raving about David and Kim Benitez for ages, and I’d been meaning to try a lesson with one or both of them. The gradual easing of lockdown rules provided the opportunity for at least a halfway-house lesson …
Continue reading My first in-person lesson in 4.5 months – and it was a great one!
I highly recommend this panel discussion. It’s two hours long, and I fully expected to listen to maybe half an hour of it to get a sense of some of the issues, but found it so engaging I ended up listening to the whole thing.
There’s never been a time like this before in anyone’s living memory, and we’re all feeling our way through the darkness here.
The challenges we each face also depend on our circumstances and our personalities. In general, I’m incredibly fortunate when it comes to the circumstances part …
Continue reading Lessons without dance are too painful right now
… I’ve booked a private COVID-19 antibody test. More on my generic blog.
I wrote last time about my challenge with motivation. About the wonderful theory of lockdown being the perfect time to hone our technique, and the less wonderful practice of dancing feeling like such a distant dream it’s hard to maintain the motivation.
I had figured out one thing that helped a little with technique exercises …
Continue reading Dancing the exercises, and three levels of collaborative dance
A lot of friends seem to be having similar experiences with the lockdown at present. There’s this idyllic theory, that we could be using all the extra time we have productively. Writing plays. Learning languages. Reorganising our homes. Doing tango technique exercises.
And then there’s the reality, which is not feeling the motivation to do any of these things …
Continue reading Tango in lockdown: motivation, practice and confidence
